Amy and Mark Yandow with their children Matthew, 7, and Mackenzie, 3, on their family farm Sugartree Maple Farm in Williston March 3. / LYNN MONTY, Free Press

Written by

Amy and Mark Yandow are preparing for sugaring already at Sugartree Maple Farm in Williston. Their children Matthew, 7, and Mackenzie, 3, help, too.

They decided last April to go into the sugaring business and started building a wood-fired sugarhouse in June.

For the past 10 years they have built up their 49 acres to have 2,000 taps and sold sap to a neighboring sugarhouse. They are looking forward to participating in Vermont’s annual Open House Weekend March 26-28.

We spoke with Amy last week.

Is sugaring a new endeavor for you?

No, Mark has been around sugaring all his life. We used to boil sap in the backyard over a fire pit. He has been building his taps up over the years. However boiling our own sap for ourselves is new to us.

What have you done to prepare so far this season?

We have spent most of our time building our sugarhouse, and we were a little late getting in all the wood, but we had to do what every sugar maker does every winter and that is walk the woods and fix repairs, add new lines for taps and lots and lots of cutting wood and stacking it. Then, of course, we spent a good four days tapping.

What is your goal for the season?

Our goal is to make lots of great top-of-the-line Vermont pure maple syrup and to put out good products and have our Web site become a big success. We are looking forward to meeting lots of other great sugar makers and learning how to make our business a success. We’re also looking forward to developing great relationships with our customers.

What sets your farm apart from others in Chittenden County?

We really don’t feel we are any different than any other farm. We have just loved the whole process of being a sugar maker and have had what people refer to as “the bug.” We work hard to put out the best product we can.